The Bvlgari residences are generating interest from Gulf, European, Chinese and Indian investors, according to Silvio Ursini, executive vice president at Bvlgari. The company, known for its watches and jewellery, expects to open hotels in Shanghai and Beijing in 2017. It already has a presence in Bali, London and Milan.

Dubai has the largest number of hotel rooms in the region under construction with 14,385 rooms across 49 hotels at the end of last month, according to the consultancy STR Global. That represents 18 per cent of the total number of rooms under various stages of construction.

When the Bvlgari hotel opens it will join Emaar’s Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa among the handful of fashion luxury brands to operate hotels in the UAE.

“Doing hotels is a very complicated business, because they are massive real estate projects, and this is why only a few brands have managed to do it,” Mr Ursini said.